CAVCOMachine Tool Rebuilding
(800) 570-0118
Way grinding · Connecticut · Since 1980

How long does way grinding take?

Sent out, the machine is gone for weeks, and almost none of that is grinding. It comes apart so it can be rigged out, the controller and electrical cabinet come off, it rides a truck twice, and it gets debugged when it comes home. Done in place, the same job gives you four to six of those weeks back.

Cavco grinds ways on your floor

We developed the procedures and the precision machinery to regrind ways in place, hardened or soft, and realign the axes while we are there. The machine stays where it is. Only the guards and the axis we work on come off. Against sending the machine out, that is four to six weeks of downtime you do not lose. Ask us for the number for your machine.

It is a proprietary process we have run for years, delivered by trained technicians, under a non-disclosure agreement with every customer as standard. It holds the same tolerances as grinding at a rebuilder, for less time and less money.

Where the weeks go
Sent outOn site with Cavco
Mechanical teardown so the machine can be movedRequiredGuards and the one axis only
Electrical teardown from the controller and cabinetRequiredNone
Rigging out, and rigging back inRequiredNone
Trucking, both waysRequiredNone
The grinding and realignmentDaysDays
Debugging after reassemblyExtensiveNone
DowntimeThe full cycle aboveFour to six weeks less
Way repair, not a rebuild

If the machine needs a complete rebuild, we do that at our shop. If what it needs is way repair, an on-site realignment with way grinding is the better job and the cheaper one. The alignments come out the same either way. The areas we work on go back to factory specification, and you get the numbers.

Which machines

Bed and saddle ways on lathes, vertical turret lathes, horizontal boring mills, bridge mills, broaching machines, and surface and cylindrical grinders. Ways are ground flat and true to specification and checked with lasers and electronic levels. If it has ways, ask.

Questions we get
How long does way grinding take?
It depends on the machine and the ways, so we quote each one. What does not vary is where the time goes when a machine is sent out, in rigging, trucking, and debugging on return. Done in place at your plant, the same work gives you four to six weeks of that downtime back.
Can way grinding be done on site?
Yes. Cavco developed the procedures and the precision machinery to regrind ways and realign axes in place. The machine stays on your floor. No rigging, no trucking, no reassembly at the other end.
Is on-site way grinding as accurate as sending the machine out?
Yes. The alignments come out the same whether we rebuild the machine at our shop or realign it on site. The areas we work on go back to factory specification, and you get the numbers.
Hardened ways too?
Yes. Hardened or soft. The process was developed for regrinding hardened ways in place.
What machines can be way ground on site?
Bed and saddle ways on lathes, vertical turret lathes, horizontal boring mills, bridge mills, broaching machines, and surface and cylindrical grinders. If it has ways, ask.
Do you sign an NDA?
Yes. The process is proprietary and we work under a non-disclosure agreement with each customer as standard.

The next question is usually how soon

Call, or send the machine make and model and what the ways are doing. We answer the same day.